Where Did My Tuition Go?

You'd think with a library this big they'd have enough computers for students...WRONG.

Today is the 18th of April. It is a Wednesday and five weeks before exams start. Apparently at Dublin City University (DCU) April is known as 'hell month' for the large amounts of papers and projects that are expected to be turned in at the end of April.

After my last Global Communications seminar I headed over to the library to print off boarding passes for my upcoming trips to Germany and Poland. I had also emailed myself the final copy of my Global Communications paper so I could turn it in and cross it off my list.

This is where my day became unproductive. Upon entering the library and scanning the computer area on the first floor I saw many computers with students sitting at them. I also saw many computers with no students sitting at them. However, those computers had Websites up like Facebook or book bags and food 'saving their spots'. This was annoying because it meant I needed to go to the second floor to try to print the things I needed.

Please keep in mind, the last time I needed to print something on the second floor it took 55 minutes to print 1 sheet of paper. The quality of the computers are so low (yes, they are PCs) and everything takes forever to open and load ONLY to freak out on itself, freezing and close again. So here I am going up to the second floor to find the same situation with computers. So, I make the executive decision to try the third and final floor of our wonderful campus library.

The third floor brought false hope. There were open computers with nothing saving the cubicles but those computers were broken or wouldn't let students log into them. On the way back down to the first floor me and my other roommate from the United States asked some Irish boys sitting at the 'Help & Information Desk' if there was any computers in the whole library that were strictly for printing. The answer was of course, no.

I ended up leaving the library in disbelief and disappointment with this school because they obviously don't know what to spend their students tuition money on. Maybe they should invest in a 'take a number' system. I would have personally been willing to throw the Facebookers off & clear the food saved seats for other students who actually need the computers, like myself.

I am really hoping the next time I go to the library on campus and TRY to print my assignment that I am able or I might throw a fit. What if I'd NEEDED my boarding pass because I was flying out later in the afternoon or NEEDED to print my assignment because it was due in a few hours. I am sorry my fellow students of DCU. I am pretty sure I need to use that computer more than your sandwich & crisps do.